


Rising Tension

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Moving Targets [2]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Anonymous phone calls, F/M, Kidnapping, Traps, anonymous tips, petty bickering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:28:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: When a mysterious informant seems to know too much about the members of the League as well as about their unidentified enemy, it makes it harder for them to know who to trust, but with the tension rising between certain members of the team, the task at hand might seem nearly impossible.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: Moving Targets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748179
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Hessischer Hof Hotel, Germany -- September 18, 2010**

Oliver was only half-asleep when the sound of a telephone ringing startled him. He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly and rolled over in bed, reaching out and picking up his cell phone from the nightstand, peering at it only to see that it wasn't his phone that was ringing. He glanced over to Chloe's bed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Chloe," he said groggily. "Your phone's ringing."

Chloe frowned and looked over at him for a moment then sat up, clearing her throat and picking up the phone without looking at the caller ID and pulled it up to her ear, figuring it was Lois. She was the only one who called her, "hello."

"Is this Watchtower?" a deep, distorted voice questioned.

She sat up immediately, suddenly wide awake, "who is this?"

"That's not important," the voice responded. "What is important is that you're looking in all the wrong places." 

Oliver looked over at Chloe, sitting up as well, a worried frown on his face.

Chloe pursed her lips together, considering as she paid attention to the voice, trying to find anything that might give her some information, "where should I be looking?"

"Closer to home." The line went dead.

"Wh- hello?" Chloe stopped, blinking and looking down at the phone, getting off of the bed quickly and starting up her computer, immediately plugging her phone to it. 

"What's going on?" Oliver asked warily, watching her with a furrowed brow.

"I don't know," she told him, "anonymous caller, called me Watchtower." Chloe glanced at him over her shoulder.

He froze at that, staring at her. "If you can't track the call, I'll call Vic and see if he can." He rose to his feet, raking a hand through his hair.

Chloe nodded and turned back to the computer, "they said I was looking in the wrong places, told me to look closer to home."

Oliver moved over so he was standing right behind her. "Someone's watching us," he murmured.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded and glanced at him, "we just need to find out who."

He moved over to the windows and pulled the curtains completely shut, then headed over to the door to make sure it was locked. It would be just their luck that they were being followed when they were away from the rest of the actual superpowered part of the team.

She watched as he went around the room for a second then turned to her laptop and started to type quickly, pressing buttons on her phone then going back to the computer. Chloe did that back and forth for a long time then shook her head, "untraceable call. Whoever this is, they know what they are doing."

"That's unsettling," Oliver mumbled, picking up his cell phone and dialing Victor's phone number.

Chloe glanced at him and nodded, "tell him my phone is connected to the network, he should be able to access it."

"All right." He drew in a breath, waiting for Vic to pick up his phone even as he moved over to get his suitcase, rifling through it one-handed and pulling out a small mechanical device.

She sighed deeply and leaned back against her chair, pushing it back some so she could see what Oliver was doing too.

"Vic, it's me. Hey, Chloe's phone is hooked to the network. We need you to try and run a trace on that last call she got," he told him, rising to his feet once more and sweeping the device over the electrical outlets.

"Man... you realize it's three in the morning here, right?" Victor got up and rubbed a hand over his face, "give me fifteen minutes and I'll connect." 

"Villains and super-spies don't care what time it is," Oliver reminded him. "Let us know what you find." He hung up the phone, tossing it onto his bed and moving to the next electrical outlet.

Chloe raised her eyebrows slowly at Oliver's attitude then watched him for a moment longer before turning back to the computer and starting to type again.

He finished sweeping the room with the device and tossed it onto the bed, as well, then moved to his suitcase again, this time pulling out a screwdriver. He began to undo the screws in the first electrical socket, pulling the cover off the wall moments later and feeling inside. When he found nothing, he screwed it back onto the wall and moved onto the next.

She sighed softly after a moment and leaned back against her chair, "knowing my identity is one thing, knowing that we're looking into something is what worries me." 

"Knowing either isn't okay," Oliver responded without looking up from what he was doing. The last time someone had found out Chloe's identity, she'd been kidnapped and nearly killed by Checkmate.

"If someone knows my identity, they could have gotten it from the Watchtower or somewhere in Metropolis," she reasoned without turning to look at him, "if they know our mission, the house would have to be bugged, because we didn't even discuss it on the plane."

"If someone knows your identity, you're in danger," he said evenly.

"If the house has been bugged, we all are," she pointed out, turning to look at him this time.

"But they didn't call Green Arrow or Aquaman or Impulse, did they?" He still didn't look up as he screwed the fixture back into place. "They called _you_. Which means they know who you are and how to reach you."

Chloe rolled her eyes and glared at him even though he wasn't looking at her, "well maybe they just felt like hearing my voice," she said sarcastically then turned back to the computer.

His jaw tensed at that and he rose to his feet. "It's good to know that you're so concerned about your own safety, Chloe. Really. I'm sure I'll sleep great tonight," he responded with every bit as much sarcasm. 

"Don't start making this about me, Oliver," she told him, raising her eyebrows, "what do you expect me to do? I'm trying to figure out who this is, but I'm not just going to sit here and think this is all about me when the rest of the team could be in danger."

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" He gave a short, humorless chuckle.

"Yes, it is," she said firmly, "and if _you_ had gotten that phone call, you would be shrugging it off like it was no big deal."

"That's entirely different," he responded, his jaw tensing. "And maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do if that's what you really believe."

"No, I don't know you _at all_ ," her eyes narrowed and she stared up at him, opening her mouth to speak again when she heard Victor calling her name from the screen. She turned around to face the computer and raised her eyebrows, "did you find anything?"

Victor gazed back at her with tired eyes. "Well at first it seemed like the call came from Florida. Turns out that was just a fake. Then it seemed like it was coming from New Zealand. Someone's going to an awful lot of trouble to cover up their tracks."

Chloe nodded a little and sighed softly, "thanks, Vic," she told him, wishing Victor had been the one to come with Oliver instead. "Do me a favor and check the house for bugs? Whoever this is, they know we're looking for something."

He nodded slightly. "Stay safe," he told her.

"You too," she told him, "let me know if you find anything."

"Will do, Watchtower." He waved at her and then vanished off the screen.

Chloe leaned back against her chair but didn't turn around, she was sure Oliver had heard the conversation.

Oliver finished searching the last electrical socket in their room, then dragged the extra chair away from the desk, standing up on it and undoing the lightbulbs up above without responding to their earlier conversation.

She just glanced up at him and raised her eyebrow then rolled her eyes and went back to typing, she knew she was going to hit another dead end if Victor wasn't able to hack the call, but at least, if she was researching, she didn't have to talk to him.

A few moments later, after he was convinced there were no bugs in the light fixture, he climbed off the chair and raked a hand through his hair, frustrated.

Chloe just glanced at him but didn't turn away from the screen otherwise, just leaned back slightly against the chair as she clicked through the various screens the computer was running its research through, she really didn't have anything to do with the computer, and she was dying to just get up and call room service for coffee, but she didn't speak German.

Oliver looked over at her for a long moment, then rubbed his hand over his face. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I don't want _anyone_ on this team in danger, and that includes you. So when one of you gets a phone call from some anonymous source who happens to know your codename, it puts me on edge."

She paused for a moment then sighed, nodding slightly, "I know, I'm sorry too." Chloe rubbed a hand over her face and turned to look at him, "I don't think either one of us got enough rest last night."

"I don't think either of us got any rest last night," he said quietly, sitting down at the end of his bed near where she was. He was silent for a moment. "Look, Chloe..."

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little, not sure where he was going with this but already preparing herself to come up with a different subject.

Oliver shook his head a little. "Nevermind. I'm gonna order some breakfast. Or lunch technically. Hungry?"

She sighed in relief and nodded slightly, "yeah, I need some coffee, if you don't mind and, then, whatever you're having," she said with a shrug, she knew they had oddly similar tastes when it came to food and she wasn't sure what they would have here anyway, not like she'd ever been to Germany before.

He nodded a little, picking up the phone, and placing a rapid-fire breakfast order in German before setting the phone back down. "It'll be a little bit." He glanced at her wearily. "Technically they stopped serving breakfast about four hours ago." 

"Okay," she stood up and rubbed her hands over her face then walked over to her suitcase, "I'm gonna go shower and I guess after that we should go cover some ground on the areas we discussed last night."

"Sounds like a plan," he said quietly.

Chloe picked up everything she needed then glanced at him, "I won't be long," she said before disappearing into the bathroom.

Oliver watched her go, then exhaled slowly, rising to his feet and moving over to the window. He opened the blinds once more, staring outside blankly. He wanted to get out there and get to work and not be trapped with Chloe in a room far too small.

* * *

**Warehouse -- September 18, 2010**

A couple hours later, they made their way to the original warehouse, the address Chloe had managed to link to the prototype. The project had been archived as an invention and all the information had been accepted by the government of Germany, the only problem was that there had been no name attached to it, and the only information they had was this empty building.

Bart had already been there a couple of times, but they wanted to make sure he didn't overlook any details that could possibly lead them to _something_.

Chloe watched as Oliver got the back door open with some difficulty then pulled out a flashlight from her purse, illuminating the inside of the warehouse then glancing up at him, "hopefully we will find a light switch." Although it was still light outside, it didn't look like the building had any windows.

"That'd help," he murmured, stepping inside cautiously and holding the door open for her.

She took a deep breath and stepped inside with him, pursing her lips together and squinting as she pointed her flashlight around.

He peered into the darkness, following the beam of her flashlight and feeling along the wall for a light switch.

Chloe stood next to him pointing the light to the wall for him and running her finger over an empty table, "for a place that is supposedly abandoned for months, it looks incredibly clean."

Oliver paused at that. "Which would make for pretty suitable lab space," he said, looking around. "I still don't see a switch."

"Especially with the lack of windows," she agreed then sighed softly, "okay, well, let's keep looking around, we might find it, or we might find something else at least."

"Should've brought my own flashlight," he commented, glancing at her sideways in the dark. He was usually much better prepared for this kind of mission.

"I can share," she told him, shrugging a little then paused, turning to look at him a lightbulb went on in her head, "we're wrong."

His eyebrows furrowed. "About...what?"

"This place," she turned to look at him, "why would they go through all this trouble to cover up their project and leave it archived with the government with the correct address? This place was never a lab, Oliver, it was a cover up. Someone wanted me to find this address and someone wanted us to waste time by researching Germany when the answer is probably nowhere near here."

Oliver paused at that, considering her words. "What was it our mystery caller said?" he asked, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"That we're looking in the wrong places, that we should be looking closer to home," she told him, her eyes a little wide as she stared up at him under the dim light of the flashlight.

"Home meaning Kansas?" he wondered aloud, staring back at her. "Or home meaning Star City?"

"Could be home meaning the US, I don't know, I tried listening for an accent, but I couldn't pick one up," she admitted, pursing her lips together, "we need to look at this from a different perspective."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Nothing like a 20 hour plane ride to make you realize you've been had."

"Why Germany?" She shook her head, squinting as she started to pace the floor like she always did when she was trying to think, not even paying attention at where the flashlight was pointing, "there has to be some significance."

Oliver watched her as she began to pace, his chest tightening a little as she went into full-on 'Watchtower' mode. It was one of the things he loved about her. How focused and determined she could be when she needed to be. "I'm sure there is," he murmured, leaning back against the table.

Chloe stopped and turned in his direction, chewing on her lip for a moment, "if they sent us here, maybe they wanted us to find something, even if it's something telling us how much we suck at playing cat and mouse, let's take one look around before we leave, just to make sure."

He nodded slightly. "We came all this way. Might as well make sure there's nothing here." He drew in a breath and headed toward the stairs.

She frowned when he walked away from her, "wait," she dug into her purse and pulled out her cellphone, adjusting the settings for a moment then raising her eyebrows as a strong light came out of the back of it, "it's the camera's flash, if it goes off, just press one of the buttons and it should turn itself back on," she told him, holding the phone out in his direction.

Oliver paused, then moved closer to her once more, a small smile on his face. "You could have been a CIA agent," he teased, swallowing hard as his fingers brushed over hers as he took the phone from her.

Chloe held her breath a little then tried for a smile, pulling her hand back once he had the phone, "this pays better," she teased back, then turned around, "be careful upstairs, never know how good maintenance is here."

He nodded slightly. "Good thing I'm not scared of heights." He turned once more, heading for the stairs, using the light from her phone to guide him.

With a deep breath, she turned around and started looking downstairs, checking under the few tables, pretty much the only thing in the otherwise empty warehouse. She couldn't find anything so far, but the place was big and like Oliver said, they were already there, they might as well look in every corner of the room.

Oliver slid his hands along the walls as he shone Chloe's phone toward the floor so he could see where he was going. When his fingers hit a small bump, he smirked and flipped the lights on, grinning. "There we go."

Chloe blinked at the sudden light, she smirked a little at the tone in Oliver's voice and turned to look up toward the second floor when she stopped, her eyes widening as she stared at the wall opposite from where she stood, "Oliver..."

He looked down at her, then followed her gaze to the wall, his own eyes widening. There, on the wall, was a huge emblazoned symbol like the one Clark had been making all over Metropolis. And right over it was a huge red X.

Blinking, she turned her eyes up to look over at Oliver then walked over to the wall where the symbol had been, apparently, painted on. That ruled out the Kandorians, they would have burned it into the side of the building. It made sense now why Bart hadn't found anything, he probably didn't think to look at the walls. With a deep breath, she reached up and touched the very end of the red x, it was all she could reach, "the paint is dry, but there is no dust over it, this is recent."

"Someone wanted us to find this," he said tensely, his jaw tightening a little. He moved toward the stairs and headed down them.

"We shouldn't discuss this now, someone might be listening," she told him, "let's get back."

Oliver nodded in agreement, reaching out toward her, worry in his eyes. "Come on."

She took a deep breath and nodded a little, looking up at him then turning around and starting toward the door, "yeah, let's go."

There was an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach as he moved toward her, taking her by the arm and heading for the exit.

Chloe looked up at him, the same unsettled feeling in her own stomach, it didn't take a genius to figure out they were being expected there, and whoever had been expecting them, would be watching them.   
Oliver paused a few feet away from the door, catching sight of something on the floor, and glancing at her sideways. "That's an awfully long way from Smallville, don't you think?"

Raising her eyebrows, she looked up at him then followed his gaze, her stomach dropping when she saw green rocks on both sides of the door they had broken in through. It looked like it wasn't _them_ they were expecting. And it was a trap. "Hurry," she told him in a whisper as she started moving faster toward the door.

"Go," he said urgently as he heard another door opening toward the opposite end of the warehouse. "Go!" he said again, a little louder this time, just as the sound of gunfire erupted in the room.

Her eyes widened and she ducked slightly then started running, reaching the door second later and tugging on it hard, "it's stuck!" More bullets were hitting the building and she could hear at least three men speaking, she couldn't make out the words, so she assumed they were speaking German.

Oliver glanced over his shoulder at the men, then moved to Chloe's side. He flinched as a bullet embedded itself into the door beside his head. He tugged on the door, as well.

"Shit," he whispered.

They were trapped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Warehouse, Frankfurt -- September 18, 2010**

Chloe's eyes widened as she turned around when the door on the opposite side of the warehouse was pulled open, her heart beating fast against her chest as she stumbled backward until her back was pressed against the door that remained stuck in place, the three men were closing in on them, guns pointing straight at their heads, so as much as she wanted to reach down and pick up the kryptonite and start throwing at them as distraction, she knew better.

And then all three men were making demands, yelling in their direction and as she had guessed, they were all speaking German. She wanted to ask Oliver what they were saying, but she didn't dare talk, or even look away from the men.

Oliver swallowed hard, holding his hands up, his heart pounding heavily in his chest. He stepped protectively in front of Chloe, shaking his head, and speaking German as quickly as they did, informing them they were there by mistake--that they had been looking for a place to be _alone_. For the first time since they'd arrived in the country, he was glad Chloe didn't speak the language.

She watched Oliver, stepping aside slightly so she could look at the men but not moving from behind him, whatever he was saying had the man who seemed to be the leader telling the other two to lower their weapons, but he himself was still holding the gun up toward Oliver's face as he spoke again and seemed to be demanding something one more time.

He shook his head again, then glanced toward Chloe before meeting the leader's eyes once more with a small smirk. He shifted closer to her, an almost imperceptible move. "She doesn't speak German," he told the men in German. "She doesn't understand what you're saying."

Almost imperceptible but Chloe noticed, her back was already pressed against the door and now Oliver's back was pretty much pressed against her and she noticed the smirk on his face. She had seen that smirk before. It was his trademark playboy persona smirk. The leader paused and Chloe noticed for the first time that the man had a small badge stuck to his shirt, she squinted, trying to read it, but was startled and blinked to look at the man's face once he spoke again, his voice was strong and firm and now he didn't sound like he was demanding, but more like he was ordering.

He drew in a deep breath, nodding slightly at the leader and keeping his hands up. He glanced at Chloe sideways, his jaw tense even though he seemed otherwise relaxed. He was anything but relaxed. "Put your hands up and turn around. We're under arrest." He slowly turned around and put his hands up against the door. 

Chloe stared up at him and raised her eyebrows, "what did you _tell_ them?" She asked in a whisper, "how do we even know for sure they are cops? They are not wearing uniforms," she asked with a frown, glancing at the men before following Oliver's lead and raising her hands to the door as she turned her back to the men.

"No, but they are carrying big guns which happen to be pointed at us at the moment," he whispered back, wincing when the leader shoved the gun into his back.

She gave Oliver a look and winced as one of the other men pulled her hands behind her back, but she managed to keep her purse on her arm, "great," she mumbled, "can't you just flash you billionaire's club card and get us out?"

"We don't actually _have_ cards for that," he grumbled back. "Just stay calm and act like you have no idea what's going on."

"I _don't_ have any idea of what's going on," her eyes narrowed slightly, "what the hell did you tell them?"

He winced a little. "That we were looking for a place to make out," he admitted.

Chloe raised her eyebrows and actually turned her head full on to glare at Oliver, "next time you feel like being creative, do me a favor and _don't_." She told him wincing as the guard pressed her arms against her back and yelled pretty much against her ear.

"Shut up," he whispered, glaring back at her. "We're under arrest for breaking and entering. With any luck I can get us out of this alive but you might just have to act like you actually _like_ me." He grimaced as the guard yanked him backwards.

"I'll try, _Dear_ ," she mumbled, glancing at him as the other guard grabbed her arm and started shoving her toward the door they had come in through.

"I know it'll be difficult," he shot back, his jaw tightening as the guards shoved them toward a van in the parking lot. He forced himself to take a deep breath.

Chloe landed in the back of the van with a huff, Oliver was shoved inside right after and with her hands tied, she couldn't push herself up into a sitting position. She waited until the door had been shut behind them, "this doesn't look like a police car to me," she told him, looking around the van, still highly annoyed but arguing amongst themselves wasn't going to get them out.

He didn't think so either, but he remained silent for a moment, glancing back toward the doors and pressing against them with his foot to test how secure they were. Clearly too secure for him to kick open. _Shit_. He laid his forehead against the floor for a minute, then drew in a breath and let it out slowly, shifting so he was sitting up.

She watched him then sighed, shifting on to her other side then pushing herself to a sitting position by supporting herself over her purse that was still hanging from her arm, then turning to look at him, "it was a trap," she concluded, and now they were probably going to either get killed or lead the others straight to the rest of the team.

Oliver closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them to look at her once more. "I'm going to get us out of this," he told her quietly.

Chloe sighed silently then glared at him, "will you _stop_ doing that?" She asked in an angry whisper. "You're not _responsible_ for me, you're not the 'hero' here and if you haven't noticed, you're as tied up as I am so unless we work together, without you trying to play my knight in shiny armor, this is where we're going to stay."

He stared at her for a moment. "You know what--" He shook his head, his jaw tightening again. "You think we could possibly have this discussion when we're not under arrest by what may or may not be German police?" he whispered.

"Sure," she said with a roll of her eyes and leaned back against the side of the van, looking away from him, "let's wait and let them kill us first." She mumbled.

"So glad you have faith in me," he retorted, looking away. 

"Goes both ways," she said sharply.

"Yeah, well. So sorry my name's not Clark Kent," Oliver bit out. 

"Are you sure?" She said feigning curiosity as she turned to look at him again, "because you sound a hell of a lot like him right now."

He turned to meet her eyes, hurt and anger warring in his. "If I was I'd have gotten out of this van and left you in it, wouldn't I?" He knew it was a low blow and even as he uttered the words, his stomach knotted. 

Her chest tightened and her eyes narrowed, the words stung, but what stung more was the fact that she always enjoyed her relationship with Oliver because she felt like his equal. Despite his nickname for her a few years ago, she wasn't his sidekick, she was his partner, they were a team.

Not anymore, it seemed, "don't worry, that will come, you're still in the stage where you're the big man and I can't do anything on my own, I'm just 'help' and should be kept out of the important things like making decisions and figuring ways to get out of tight situations. Make sure you protect my incapable self before you leave."

"Goddammit, Chloe," he whispered, shaking his head. "Fine. You figure a way out of this." He leaned back against the van wall, his chest tight as he looked away.

Chloe took a deep breath and swallowed hard as she looked away too, her jaw tight, her hands into fists behind her back and she just sat there for a long moment as she told herself to breathe and _think_ , because that was the one thing she was good at.

Oliver closed his eyes, letting the motion of the vehicle help him fall into a meditative state as he focused on his breathing and not the hurt and the anger he was feeling. Because neither one of those emotions was going to help them get out of this situation.

She shifted her arms, glancing toward the front of the van, the guards couldn't see them, but that didn't mean they couldn't hear them. She let her purse hit the floor behind her back quietly and shifted her hands, wincing as the handcuffs cut into her skin, but she managed to pull her purse to a position where she could, as silently as possible, open the zipper of the main compartment. She just hoped she had remembered to pack the swiss army knife Lois had given her when she was eleven.

At the soft thud, he opened his eyes to look at her and see what she was doing, then he glanced up front toward the guards warily, but remained silent. 

Biting down hard on her bottom lip, she cocked her head as she tried to look over her shoulder and inside her purse even as she felt around it. Her eyes widened when she felt the knife, a smirk appearing on her lips even as she kept trying to look over her shoulder. Chloe pulled it out of her purse carefully not to drop it and felt her way over it, deciding which blade to pull out.

He raised his eyebrows and held his breath as he caught sight of what she had in her hand. He glanced toward the guards again, then back at Chloe.

Chloe closed her eyes, focusing as she pulled the smaller, least wide blade out and tried to find the lock for the handcuff, a bump on her road made her poke herself hard with the blade and she closed her eyes and her mouth tightly for a moment, she had cut herself, but luckily the blade wasn't sharp nor big enough to cause real damage. 

Oliver winced involuntarily. He shifted his foot just a little to get her attention. 

She managed to get the blade inside the hole of the lock and let out a breath, opening her eyes as she prepared herself to try and turn it, with the way her hands were situated, it was going to be the harder part. That was when she saw his foot and frowned, looking up at him.

"You okay?" he mouthed silently.

Chloe just gave him a look and took a deep breath, "fine," she mouthed back, turning her head down and relaxing her shoulders as she wrapped her fingers around the knife, careful not to pull it out of the lock. She wished he would stop treating her like she couldn't handle things, like she couldn't even deal with the small cut in her arm. She especially wished he'd _stop_ looking at her with his big, worried brown eyes.

He leaned back against the wall of the van once more, his heart beating a little quicker in his chest as he watched her work the blade into the lockhole of the handcuffs, holding his breath.

She bit down on her lip again and suddenly, she felt the blade clicking into place. Opening her eyes wide, she held her breath and slowly, turned it, holding back a sigh of relief as her hand was freed. Chloe turned to look at him as she gathered the handcuff over her lap to open the other side too, "turn around," she mouthed to him, so he'd have his back to her.

Oliver drew in a silent breath, his body tense as he turned his back to her, keeping an eye on the guards in the front. If they could get free they'd have a chance at taking the guards down when they came to the back to get them.

Chloe placed her handcuffs carefully inside her purse so they wouldn't make noise against the metal floor of the van and shifted closer to Oliver, holding her breath to keep her hands as steady as possible as she unlocked the handcuffs from both of his hands, picking them up and placing them in her purse too, along with the knife.

He turned around to face her, meeting her eyes for a brief moment before casting another wary look toward the guards, and then glancing around to see if there was anything in the back they could use for a weapon. When he didn't see anything, he nodded toward her purse and held his hand out silently.

Holding his gaze, she watched him for a moment then zipped her purse up as silently as possible before bunching it up and handing it to him, careful not to drop it. It was heavy now, heavy enough that a blow to the head was sure to knock someone out.

He took it from her silently, unzipping it once more and pulling the knife back out. He met her gaze again and zipped the purse back up, handing it back to her with raised eyebrows.

Nodding, she held his gaze again, wrapping the straps of her purse tightly around her arm and holding on to the ends in her right hand. Now they were both armed, sort of, but there were three men. She glanced at the guards then back at Oliver and mouthed "door" then made a small shoving motion, if they could knock one of them out with the door as soon as they opened it, they could probably take the other two out.

Oliver nodded slightly in agreement, shifting closer to the door and rocking back on his heels so he could stand up quickly when the moment was right. They could do this. They could get out of this alive.

Chloe mimicked his position and took a deep breath, her eyes widening as the car pulled to a stop. She stilled and looked over her shoulder, toward the guards. They were talking on the radio now and the voice on the other side sounded... familiar, even though she could barely hear it at all, but she couldn't place it.

Oliver glanced over his shoulder, as well, then over at Chloe, rising to his feet the second the guards were out of the van. "Ready?" he whispered.

She took a deep breath and stood up too, nodding and holding on to her purse as if it was some kind of mace, "ready."

He nodded, as well, focusing his attention on the door again. As soon as he heard them unlocking it, he drew back and kicked it as hard as he could, popping it open and hitting one of the men with enough force to send him sailing backwards.

As soon as the door was open, Chloe jumped off of the van, picking her purse and swinging it as hard as she could against the second man's head, with everything she had in it, plus the surprise element, it was enough to send him to the ground.

Oliver tackled the third man before he even had a chance to raise his gun. He slammed his head back against the pavement, then rose to his feet once more. "Get in the front," he said, glancing at Chloe sideways as he divested the three men of their weapons.

Chloe shut the door of the back of the van and ran to the driver's side, starting the car even as Oliver was gathering the weapons, she looked around for a moment and frowned, looked like they had pulled out on the side of the road. Guards her ass, they were probably going to kill them right there.

The road was deserted so she turned the car around for them to get back where they had come from, "c'mon!" She called for Oliver, the last thing they needed was for one of the men to wake up.

Hefting the guns onto his shoulder with their straps, he quickly climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door, half tempted to tell her to run them over. He tossed the guns into the back of the van and grabbed onto the dashboard as she floored it.

They didn't say anything for a long time, but when Chloe started seeing houses and civilization again, she slowed down slightly. Germany was famous for it's high speed limits after all. She glanced over at Oliver and untangled the straps of her purse from her arm then started going through it as she kept her eyes on the road. 

"What are you looking for?" he asked, glancing at her sideways.

"My phone," she told him, "if it's still working, we can use the GPS and figure out how to get back."

Oliver nodded a little, reaching over to hold the wheel steady so she could locate her phone. "Good work back there," he said softly, not looking at her.

She glanced at him, then picked up the handcuffs from her purse and threw them in the back too, "you too," she said quietly, then pulled her phone out. The case was cracked, but it looked like the phone was in one piece. "It's working."

"Good. I vote we get back to the hotel, pack and get the hell out of here," he responded.

Chloe nodded her agreement and set her phone over in the cup-holder so she could check it for directions as needed, "check the glove-box, maybe there will be something in it telling us who those men were and who they worked for."

Oliver fell silent, doubting that likelihood, but doing as she said anyway, rifling through it and glancing at her sideways. "Nothing useful."

She nodded a little, but didn't say anything, just focused on driving for a long time then looking over at him, "should we ditch the van somewhere and find another way to the hotel?"

"Probably a good idea. On the off chance they don't already know where we're staying, we don't want to risk leading them straight to us." He looked out the windshield.

"Okay," she checked her phone again, "there's a subway station in... three kilometers," she hated the metric system, "we can take the subway back."

Oliver nodded slightly in agreement, falling silent once more.

Chloe glanced over at him one more time then kept her eyes on the road until she found the subway station and pulled over in the parking lot next to it. She had the feeling the flight back was going to be even longer than the flight there.

He drew in a breath, letting it out slowly and climbing out of the van, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. He was glad he'd remembered to have some of his American cash traded for euros before their trip. He glanced over to make sure Chloe was following as they made their way to the gate.

She glanced at him when he looked at her but quickly looked away, she didn't say anything as she watched him buy their tickets off of one of the machines, unconsciously rubbing her hands over her wrists, which were already bruised from the handcuffs.

Oliver glanced at her again, wincing a little when he saw the bruises. He handed her a ticket and headed for the subway platform wordlessly.

"Thanks," she mumbled but sighed as he walked away as soon as she had the ticket in her hand. She wasn't going to do anything stupid for now, but as soon as they figured out who was after them and took care of that particular problem, she was going back to Metropolis.


	3. Chapter 3

**Queen Jet -- September 18, 2010**

Oliver's stomach growled hungrily as he took his seat on the jet, wishing they'd had more to eat earlier. When they'd arrived back at the hotel, they didn't want to waste anymore time than they had to getting packed and checking out.

It had become pretty clear that they weren't in safe territory.

He fastened his seatbelt as his pilot announced they'd be taking off in a few minutes, then glanced over to where Chloe was sitting, laptop already open in front of her.

She fastened her seatbelt too. She was also hungry, but mostly, she was exhausted and sore. She hadn't gotten more than ten hours of sleep in the past three nights combined and there was only so long coffee could keep her going. That and the adrenaline of freeing themselves had drained whatever energy she had left. But she wasn't going to let herself sleep yet. They had some information at least, whoever this was, they knew Clark's weakness and that narrowed it down by a _lot_.

'Look closer to home', the mysterious informant had told her. It had to be someone who knew where to get meteor rocks, so now, she was starting to think that home meant Kansas after all.

Chloe sighed deeply and leaned back against her seat, frowning when her phone buzzed. New text message. She picked it up and stilled, her stomach dropping. "It's them again." She said quietly.

He paused. "What's it say?"

She pursed her lips together and held her phone out to him, "be more careful. He's getting close."

Their fingers brushed as he took the phone from her, reading the message for himself, as well. "He," he murmured, his eyebrows furrowing. "Assuming this anonymous source is reliable I guess that narrows our suspects down to all the men on the planet."

"All the men on the planet who know about Clark," she corrected him, pulling her hand back, "that narrows it down a lot more."

"It could be a lot of people," he told her, glancing at her as he released her phone. "Considering his little red-K trip with Zod, he wasn't exactly the most discreet." He sighed softly, rubbing a hand over his face. "And who knows who else knows about him from that."

"No, but because someone might know about his powers, it doesn't mean they would know his weakness," she pointed out and sighed, looking down at her phone as it beeped again. Chloe paused as she read the other text message, then glanced at Oliver, "it says: He's back, Miss Sullivan."

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed. "Who's back?" He shook his head a little. "Clark?"

"I don't know," she clicked on her phone then quickly replied to the text, asking who was back, but shook her head when she got a message the text couldn't be delivered. "It won't let me ask questions, the number is blocking incoming calls."

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "Of course it is. That would be too easy." He frowned, wanting to get up and pace, but knowing he couldn't because of the fact they were about to take off. "So we have an anonymous source who's giving us information which may or may not be accurate but they don't want us to know who they are or how to get a hold of them. They want to help us but only on their terms."

"Assuming they actually want to help us, and not just have us trust them long enough so they can lead us into the next trap," she said, sighing deeply, "we should go back to Metropolis."

Oliver grimaced involuntarily, looking out the plane window. Metropolis was about the _last_ place he wanted to be, but he didn't say that. "Yeah. You're right."

Chloe took a deep breath, "a man, from Kansas, who knows Clark's secret and was gone?" She shook her head a little as she tried to think.

He paused at that, frowning. "Well, other than myself and the rest of the team, you've got me."

She shook her head a little, "all the other possibilities are impossible."

Oliver considered her words for a moment. "What other possibilities?"

Chloe considered for a moment then took a deep breath, "Lionel, Lex, Dr. Swan, Edward Teague..."

"He's back," he murmured, turning the possibilities over in his mind, his brow furrowed.

"All four of them are dead," she told him, turning to look at him.

Oliver met her eyes. "Except we know that people tend to come back from the dead." 

Chloe held her breath and his gaze, her stomach turning at the thought. Lionel and Dr. Swan wanted to protect Clark as far as she knew, Teague seemed to go through the route of ritual sacrifice more than evil scientist and he wouldn't know enough about _her_. Only one of the four men she could think of fit under all categories. And he had come back from the dead more than once before.

"Lex." 

* * * 

**Metropolis Airport -- September 19, 2010**

Oliver was glad to be off the plane where he could get some fresh air. The fact that Lex Luthor might somehow be alive--whether still or again--was more than a little overwhelming. Then again if anyone could pull off something like that, it was Lex. He raked a hand through his hair, grimacing a little as lightning flashed in the sky above, as if it were an ominous foretelling of bad things to come. He instinctively reached out to help Chloe off the steps of the plane.

The wind in Metropolis was insane and Chloe was incredibly glad they had landed safely, it looked like a storm was coming and she held onto Oliver's hand without really thinking about it it, "let's get back to the Watchtower." She told him, taking a deep breath.

And chalk it up for him to be wrong. The last place he _really_ wanted to be was in Watchtower. "Right, okay." He drew in a breath, grimacing again when it began to rain. And not just a little rain--a torrent of pounding rain that actually _hurt_ when it hit his skin.

She winced as the rain started to pour down on them, in seconds, she was soaking wet. She glanced at Oliver for a moment then rushed toward the car where their luggage already was.

Oliver slid into the car beside her, shaking his head a little and sending water droplets flying. "Lovely weather," he grumbled.

Chloe closed her eyes when he shook her head and sent droplets flying in her face, "welcome to Kansas."

"Great. Can we leave now?" he responded wryly.

"You can," she told him, raising her eyebrows and looking over at him.

"Don't tempt me. We don't even get this kind of crazy weather in California."

Chloe sighed and rolled her eyes, "no, California is so perfect with its earthquakes. It never rains there."

"Seriously?" He turned his head to look at her, his gaze intense. "Are you deliberately trying to pick another fight with me?"

"I'm not _trying_ to do anything, but if you don't want me dissing your home state, I suggest you stop doing the same to mine," she said firmly, holding his gaze and setting her jaw. It was petty and stupid and she knew it, but she didn't know what it was about him lately, he was just getting on her nerves.

His jaw tightened, as well. "Fine. You know what? Let's just not talk at all. How's that?" He rolled his eyes at her, and leaned forward, tapping lightly on the glass separating them from the driver. He gave the man the address to Watchtower, then slid the glass shut once more and leaned back in his seat, staring outside the window.

Her chest tightened but she still glared at him, "fine with me." She told him, immediately turning to look away.

He didn't respond to her words and he wasn't thrilled when the limo pulled to a stop outside the familiar building. He got out without a word, heading for the entrance without looking back at Chloe and stepping inside.

Chloe didn't look at him as she got out, she thanked the driver and took her suitcase from him. At least they were back to a place where she didn't have to depend on him for _anything_. She wheeled her suitcase into the main hall and avoided looking at him during the elevator ride. Once the doors slid open in front of her, she wasted no time in getting out and moving toward the main doors of the Watchtower.

He followed her, but kept his distance, remaining silent, his expression void of emotion. He immediately headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a long drink.

She stilled when she walked inside, and swallowed hard. She'd been gone for a couple of months only and coming to the Watchtower should feel like coming home, but it didn't. It just reminded her of everything that had happened in there in the past year, of all the times she was alone and the brief period in which she wasn't, when she had Oliver. And now she was destroying what was left of her friendship with him too and she didn't even know why.

Chloe took a deep breath when she felt her eyes tearing up and walked a little faster than usual toward the stairs. She was still dripping wet, and so was he, but she wasn't even going to offer the bathroom to him. She didn't want him to see her like that. Tears were streaming down her face by the time she reached the bathroom and in her rush to close the door, she slammed it.

Oliver flinched at the sound, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He'd tried being nice to her and while that had worked for awhile, they'd gotten _too_ close and she'd pushed him away. Now it felt like she wanted him to just disappear and leave her alone. He raked a hand through his wet hair, leaning back against the counter and staring blankly at the wall. 

"This is going great," he muttered.

* * *

 **Undisclosed location -- September 18, 2010**

Lex watched the screen in front of him, a smirk playing on his thin lips as the scene unfolded in the big screen in front of him.

_"What the hell did you tell them?"_

_"That we were looking for a place to make out."_

Lex chuckled and shook his head, "Oliver, Oliver, looks like you haven't changed." He watched until the footage ended, then switched camera views to the one in the back of the van, which was empty at first and then Chloe was tossed inside, followed by Oliver.

"Not who we expected to see, is it, darling?" He sighed and sipped on his scotch, arching an eyebrow when Chloe and Oliver started to argue, "but it might be just as entertaining."  
He chuckled again as their bickering grew more heated and smirked at Oliver's mention of Clark. "Definitely entertaining." He glanced at the woman beside him, and then back at the screen. "Apparently there's some trouble in paradise." He took another sip of his scotch, leaning back comfortably in the leather couch he was sitting in.

With a cock of his head, Lex watched as Chloe freed herself, "Miss Sullivan seems to remain as resourceful as she was in high school. Something to keep in mind," he reached down and placed his hand on the woman's leg, brushing his thumb against her thigh then smiling at her, "good to see our old friends, isn't it?"

But Lex didn't wait for a reply, he knew he wouldn't get one, instead, he pulled his hand away from her leg and picked up a earpiece, speaking German fluently into it as he spoke to his guards via radio, once he was done and Chloe and Oliver had broken their way out of the van, Lex finished his drink and placed both the empty glass and the earpiece on the coffee table. He turned to look at the woman and smiled, reaching over and brushing her hair behind her ear before leaning in, "I told the guards to let them go, I think this would be a great job for you."

He pulled back slightly and reached to cup her chin, turning her face toward him, their noses almost touching, "you will bring me Oliver, Chloe and all of the members of their little team." His grip on her chin tightened and his lips brushed against hers, "and if you don't, well, darling, you know what happens if you don't." His smile widened and Lex stared at her with cold eyes.


End file.
